Antique rifle collection stolen from Fresno man's home

kfsn

By ABC30

FRESNO, Calif.

The 18-year -old suspect gave up immediately when police contacted him. He had a backpack full of burglary tools. But the other suspect took off. He didn't get far, but police are still searching for the gun collection.

Timothy Polk returned home from church Sunday night to find his garage door open and home ransacked.

"I have god in my life so I'm not going to thump on anybody right away like I used to," Polk said.

Monday morning when as a Fresno police officer left the neighborhood after taking a police report, he noticed two people acting suspicious in the rear view mirror.

"He went to confront them and one succumbed to his authority the other one took off running. But the interesting thing is when he took off running, he was carrying something that could've been maybe a rifle or two and it was covered," Len Gleim with the Fresno Police Department said.

Officers combed an alleyway where one of the suspects ran, looking for the stolen guns. Police say the suspect who ran scaled a fence at Ashlan and Milbrook and ran through the back of Kiddie Kampus. Surveillance cameras at the school captured his sprint.

Police found him at a nearby vacant church. A few blocks away, the victim says his house was turned upside down. His antique rifle collection was stolen, including one rifle that has a very special meaning.

"They ransacked the house, they took four rifles, five rifles that I had. One of them was an heirloom that I had; my father bought me back in 66 when I was 12, my first deer rifle," Polk said.

Polk said he is especially frustrated one of the suspects arrested is his neighbor; a neighbor he says is very familiar with his Sunday evening routine.

Unfortunately, even if police track down the guns, Polk may never see them.

"Sad thing is the police officer said even though they recover those, I won't get them back because they have been passed down through the years and there's no serial numbers recorded, so I could spit nails but I have to be tolerant too," Polk said.

The victim says the burglars got into his home from a backdoor. Police have still not found the guns, but they believe they could be in a backyard in the area or along the suspect's path.